For this day, the Libyans appeared to forget there is a war on as tens of thousands gathered at Martyrs' Square, renamed from Green Square in the Al Qathafi era in the heart of the Libyan capital, Tripoli to mark the Muslim Eid al-Fitr feast.

Former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi's loyalists appear to be committing suicide if they follow the fugitive leader's stubbornness. Moussa Ibrahim, whose role has now been relegated to just acting as spokesman for the former leader, has dismissed the ultimatum issued by the NTC that expires at the end of the Eid holiday on Saturday.

A new transitional government in Libya will take the lead in establishing security, therefore. the National Transitional Coucil, NTC, has ruled out any major role for foreign peacekeepers in the country after the fall of the dictator Muammar Al Qathafi, according to top UN officials.

At a press conference in Tripoli on August 26, a statement read aloud by top Libyan rebel commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj was reassuring. Just a few months ago, disorganised and leaderless rebel fighters seemed to have little chance at ousting Libyan dictator Muammar Al Qathafi and his unruly sons.

Libyan rebels say they're closing in on Muammar Al Qathafi and have issued an ultimatum to regime loyalists in the fugitive dictator's hometown of Sirte, his main remaining bastion: surrender this weekend or face an attack.

Many Libyans were overjoyed at the fall of the dictator Al Qathafi who ruled Libya for 42 years, which followed that of longtime rulers in Egypt and Tunisia earlier this year, but have been chilled by evidence of mass killings in Tripoli as his forces fought losing battles with rebels.

Libya's largest oil terminal has been damaged during fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Al Qathafi oil workers and witnesses told Reuters. At the same time a news agency witness reported seeing flames and black smoke spurting from a tank at the Es-Sider oil terminal, which loaded an average of about 450,000 barrels per day before the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi began in February.

Muammar Al Qathafi, who has not been seen in the public since June and has been on the run since the rebels captured his Tripoli compound at Bab al-Azzizyah on August 23 has been deprived the joy of hugging a new grandchild. He has just become a grandfather to a new baby girl born to his daughter Ayesha.

The National Transitional Council, the government-in-waiting in Libya after the ousting of the Libyan dictator, Muammar Al Qathafi, who still a fugitive, holed up in some hiding place, is now recognised as Libya's legitimate authority by more than 40 nations.

Following confirmation by the Algerian authorities that Al Qathafi's second wife Safiya, his daughter Ayesha, and his sons Mohammed and Hannibal, were in Algeria, the National Transitional Council, NTC, in Libya called on the Algerian government to cooperate with it and hand over any of Al Qathafi's sons who is on its wanted list.

A new Libyan government should devise policies that benefit the Libyan people, instead of avenging Al Qathafi's legacy.

Al Qathafi no longer presents a political or even a tribal weight in the country. He’s more of a nuisance, a security challenge; a background noise that will go away sooner rather than later.

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